#St. Louis

Throughout our extensive years of research done in the field of TV, specifically the sitcom, we have noticed a trend. On average, sitcoms seems to be based in the following locations: New York, Chicago, Southern California, or the New England area.

When we were little, sitting way too close to the TV on Friday nights for TGIF we longed for the one goofy but loving family to be in St. Louis is us! No, the occasional random location like Step by Step‘s Port Washington, Wisconsin or Family Ties‘ Columbus, Ohio settings, we wanted St. Louis (or at least Missouri)!

Well believe it our not there have been a few actual sitcoms based in St. Louis! Here’s the ones we could find with a little info and followed by their introductions:

1. “AfterMASH” 1983-1985

Based in Hannibal, Missouri, it was a spin-off from the hit show MASH, the show was about three of the original MASH characters (Colonel Potter, Klinger and Father Mulcahy) dealing with the hilarity of life after war!

With great plot line like Klinger decorating Colonel Potter’s office to look like it did in Korea, or Klinger escaping from jail to attend the birth of his child and then faking insanity to prevent going back to jail, you can pretty much assume this show was a ratings giant…you would be wrong however. It managed 2 seasons and 31 episodes (though the 31st episode never aired) until finally getting canceled after losing a rating battle with the A-Team.

Here’s their Season 2 theme/intro:

2. “The John Larroquette Show” 1993-1996

Based in St. Louis at a fictitious bus depot, John Hemingway (played by John Larroquette) [Editor’s Note: When actors get older they always play characters that have the same first name as they do. Do older actors just not like getting called by a fake name or what?] who manages said bus depot while having fun with the wacky people that work there and hang around. The cast of characters really set the tone for how awesome St. Louis is. Take for instance Pat, the prostitute in drag and the fact that Hemingway himself got the lovely job in St. Louis only because he was a drunk that lost everything.

Canceled a month in to its fourth season, the show was barely recognizable after many major changes to “lighten up” the darker parts of the comedy.